First-half M&A deals in S'pore up 19% to $45.7b

Activity at highest since Q1 of 2014; average deal size also up

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity here in the first half hit heights not seen since the first quarter of 2014.

The total value of deals came in at US$33.8 billion (S$45.7 billion), up 19.1 per cent on the first six months of last year.

The figure - based on data as of yesterday - was driven mostly by activity in the second quarter, according to a preliminary review by Thomson Reuters.

Deals in the second quarter totalled US$21.6 billion, up 76.8 per cent from the first three months of the year and 23.4 per cent higher than in the same quarter last year.

Average deal size also rose, from US$86.8 million in the first half of last year to US$127.1 million this year.

Domestic M&A activity totalled US$3.8 billion, 7.5 per cent more than in the first half of last year. This was despite a 22.9 per cent fall in the number of domestic transactions.

The property, financial and industrial sectors accounted for 75 per cent of domestic M&A activity in the first half. Property deals alone reached US$10.4 billion, or 30.9 per cent of activity.

Private equity-backed M&A deals were valued at US$166.2 million, the lowest first-half period in terms of deal value since 2013. However, the number of private equity-backed acquisitions grew 14.3 per cent.

Cross-border deal activity amounted to US$16.8 billion, an 11.8 per cent fall from the US$19 billion recorded last year.

This was due in part to a 52 per cent decline in inbound M&A activity to US$4.3 billion, the lowest first-half period since 2013.

The retail sector, which snagged deals totalling US$2 billion, accounted for 46 per cent of Singapore's inbound M&A activity in the first half.

The Straits Times

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